Comedy review: Sarah Callaghan: 24
Star rating: *** Venue: Pleasance Dome (Venue 23)
Riven by the angst of her limited horizons, broke and back living with her feckless father, irritated even by her “geezer’s” promise to whisk her away to a romantic mystery destination, in desperation the young comic begins subscribing to the internet advice of “10 Steps To Change Your Life in 24 Hours”. Such is the fierce attitude she projects, trigger-tempered with jealousy towards any woman who looks at her man, that this sounds plausible and you’d be loath to doubt her. However, as a show framework, the 10 steps don’t add anything but contrivance to her routines.
At 24, she’s still impressively accomplished, railing with passion, wit and vulnerability at her circumstances, rescuing comedy from the bleakness of a room without a properly-functioning radiator. She can launch into such clichéd observations as lorry drivers being prostitute killers and make it seem fresh with oblique reasoning and the force of her delivery. However, 24 feels too calculated, with her life too nakedly bent towards fulfilling the criteria of a supposedly self-revelatory Fringe hour to have that great an impact.
Until 28 August. Today 8:20pm.